Tuesday

President Buhari Finalises Plan to Sell Two More Aircrafts

The Presidency has concluded the process for the sale of two presidential aircraft, a Falcon 7x executive jet and Hawker 4000 according to the Punch.

In a statement on October 4, the Presidency had confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari had authorised the sale of the two jets.

Advertisements were then placed in newspapers for interested buyers to bid for the aircraft.

A top Presidency source told a correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Monday that the process of selling the aircraft which was handled by the Office of the National Security Adviser had been concluded.

He said,“The bids were opened in the presence of all interested parties about two weeks ago.

“At the end of the exercise, all those who participated commended the process which they described as very transparent.”

When asked about the identities of the preferred bidders and the amount the Federal Government would realise from the sales, the source said the details would soon be made public.

He, however, said the details would only be disclosed after the report of the sales might have been presented to the President for approval.

“The report will be made available to the President first. Once he approves it, it will be made public in accordance with the present administration’s policy,”he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had in the October 4 statement said the decision to sell the jets was in line with the directive of the President that aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet be reduced to cut down on waste.

Two aircraft in the fleet had also been handed over to the Nigerian Air Force for its operations.